Independence Day!

Dear Y'all,

  What a long week! This week we accidentally contacted some people that belong to a rice church. We call them rice Christians because they just go to church to get free rice and gifts from the church. So teaching them is always a waste of time because they are completely entrenched and dependent on their Rice Church. As Mom would say: sad days Martha.Wednesday was a super long day! We started off with a Branch Presidency meeting to discuss our recent converts and return members as well as some of our investigators. That was followed by riding around all morning trying to meet people that cancelled on us and contacting others. We met a recent convert of about 7 months that hasn't come to church in a while and then one of our investigators that has an impossible time with the word of wisdom. He's the village drunkard. We're trying to help him but he's just super Yap! (Yap means difficult and ornery in the most heavy sense of the word). Then We tried to meet another less active who was sleeping so we went and ate lunch ate a member's house. They had invited us over the Sundaybefore!  On the way we met some Italians working in Cambodia for a bit and we showed them how to get to the Bamboo Train and they were super nice! We gave them the Mormon.org website to check out. We then went to where we thought the Member's new house was but she wasn't yet there so we went to another member's house with whom she is staying. But she wasn't there either! That member sent us across the street where we found her and she took us back across the street and told us she was going to make us fish but her neighbor's Dogs and chickens ate it. So she made us some omelets instead. It was still yummy!! After lunch we went to our recent convert's house and taught him about the priesthood. He's doing so well!! Then we rode across town to withdraw money because we were all out and then we came all the way back to visit another recent convert. Finally we went to English class and taught another really fun lesson. But that's not all. When we finally got home at night and finished planning, the sisters called and told us they were stuck at bridge Wat Kor where the bus from Phnom Penh dropped them off and it was a 15 minute bike ride from their house at 8:30 at night. So we had to go rescue them! It was quite an adventure indeed. We rode out there and then I gave them my bike and we escorted them back to their house. (don't worry we got permission from the APs). So I rode on the back of Elder Plothow's bike and the two sisters rode on my bike. We call this "dopping". When someone rides on the back of your bike you "dope" them. No that is not missionary invention. That's Khmer. So thats Wednesday for ya.

  On Independence Day we celebrated by eating pancakes (we made a whole box and a half) in the morning with the zone (organized by me and my companion). For companion study for the past 2 weeks we've been cycling through the 3 American hymns at the request of Elder Plothow. He's really patriotic. Then we had Zone training about the plan of salvation and how better to teach it. Then after that we went to Pizza Company and Swenson's. Elder Plothow ate and Earthquake by himself because it was buy one get one every Friday. An Earthquake is 8 large scoops of ice cream. Needless to say he didn't feel very well later. We ran around trying to meet a lot of people that couldn't meet and then we taught some more of our recent converts. It was a great day!!! 

  The end of our week went really well. We re-committed one of our investigators to baptism for the 19th of July. We're super excited for her! She's seen the hand of the Lord in her life so much since she's started to follow Jesus Christ. It will be an excellent day for sure! Sunday was stellar. You know how we had the goal of 150? Well we got 140 this week. Thats 30 more than usual! Of course 7 of them were Americans from Texas on Holiday. They were super cool! But still thats a ton of people at church!!! We had a great Fast in which we asked for the Lord's help in accomplishing our goals among other things. I'm really excited for the continuation of this week! I love this work and I love the gospel! I know my savior lives. I know more know than I ever have in my life. He is my Lord and redeemer, even Jesus Christ. I pray that you will strive to come to know him and grow your testimony by bearing it. I love you all. Keep on Keeping on.

-Elder L. Rogers Brewer

That green thing is a banana treat.